US3025059A - Sand trap golfing game - Google Patents

Description

March 13, 1962 11.1. D1 BUONO 3,025,059

SAND TRAP GOLFING GAME Filed July 22, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Agent Mal'd 13, 1952 T. .1. DI BUONO 3,025,059

SAND TRAP GOLFING GAME Filed July 22, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /4 l/9 M3. /8 /3 In ven [or 794600095 D/BUo/vo 2g y @M Agenf United States Patent O 3,025,059 SAND TRAP GOLFING GAME Theodore J. Di Buono, 166-03 32nd Ave., Flushing, N.Y. Filed Jury 22, 1960, ser. No. 44,695 3 Claims. (CI. 273-32) This invention relates in general to goling games and more particularly to golfing games devised to perfect the art of sand trap golng.

Heretofore, golfing games have employed artificial means for the purpose of improving the golfers skill and therefore have not been a true challenge to the golfer. Where natural means were employed vast areas of space had to be utilized. These vast areas were usually in remote regions and not convenient to the golfer, as far as travelling time, to reach these regions.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved means to perfect the art of sand trap golfing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a golf game which simulates actual sand trap conditions.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a sand trap golf game which is simple in construction and arrangement and has an automatic ball return device.

A still further object of this invention -is to provide a sand trap golf game which has an automatic timing device for limiting the time of play.

To these ends the invention contemplates `the use of a boxlike structure one end of which is filled with sand. A pair of fairway doors substantially fill the rest of the structure. These doors are pivoted so as to be able to slope towards the middle of the structure whenever it is desired that the balls on the fairway doors are to be gathered. Below the doors at the middle of the structure is a trough which catches the balls. The trough is angled towards the sand area so that all of the balls on the fairway doors when falling into the trough are returned to the sand area. Immediately in front of the sand area is a screen which is automatically timed so as to attain a vertical position after a predetermined time.

The invention has other objects and advantages which will appear from the following description of a particular embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the invention showing, in dotted lines, the cables which operate the fairway doors and the ball return trough;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1 showing the slope of the ball return trough and the locking mechanism for the screen when in its horizontal position;

FIGURE 3 is a front transverse vertical sectional view taken along lines 3 3 of FIGURE 1 showing, in dotted lines, the fairway doors when sloped towards the middle;

FIGURE 4 is a front transverse Vertical sectional view similar to FIGURE 3 taken along lines 4 4 of FIGURE 1 showing the screen in its vertical position;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIGURE l showing the mechanism for raising and lowering the screen; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View of a plurality o-f similar game units arranged in a predetermined manner.

With reference to FIGURES l Ithrough 5 the particular embodiment shown there of the invention comprises, in general, a boxlike structure 10 having a front panel 11, a rear panel 12, a left `side panel 13, a right side panel 14 and a bottom panel 1S. A partition 16 is placed across the forward part of the box 10 so as 'to form two separate compartments. The forward compartment is filled with sand 17 and the rear compartment has a pair of fairway doors 18 and 19 mounted therein. The doors are mounted ice on pivot pins 21 and 22 and 23 and 24 respectively.

-Where the fairway doors meet at the center there are a series of holes 25 formed by having `semicircles cut in each door so as to be in juxtaposition with each other. The left and right sides 13 and 14 respectively, of the box 10, are recessed in the rear compartment so as to form ledges 26 and 27 (see FIGURES 3 and 4) for the doors 18 and 19 to rest on respectively. The doors will normally rest on the ledges since their weight is so distributed with respect to the pivot points as to make the outside portions of the doors heavier than the inside portions.

Below the doors in the center of the rear compartment of the box is a trough 2S which slopes from the rear of the box towards `the front of the rear compartment where it is angled towards the right side of the front compartment. A pail like receptacle 29 connects with the fron-t of the trough to catch any balls rolling down the trough 28.

A screen 31, lwhich acts as a barrier to prevent unauthorized play and to limit the `time of play, is positioned between the rear and front compartments. When the game is in use the screen assumes a horizontal position. The -screen 31 pivots about a pivot pin 32 which extends through the entire length of the screen, When the screen is in its horizontal position it is held ther-e by a locking arm 33 which is controlled by a :timing mechanism (not shown). The locking arm holds the screen in its horizontal position for a predetermined time after which the timing mechanism pulls the locking arm off of the screen. With lthe locking arm 33 off of the screen 31, a bellcrank 34, which is biased by a tension spring 35, returns the screen -to its upright position. The upright position is the position controlled by a stop pin v36 and a latch stop 37 which stops ya latch arm 38, which is biased by a tension spring 39, so as to move with the bellcrank 34.

A pair of brackets 41 `and 42 are att-ached to the underside of the fairway doors 18 and 19, respectively. These brackets are in line with the pivot points of each door and midway between the front and rear end thereof. At the bottom of bracket 42 is ia pulley 43. A cable 44 is attached to the bottom of the bracket 41. The cable passes around a pulley 45 which is supported by a bracket 46 which is attached to the bottom of the box 10. The cable 44 then runs to the other side of the. box where lit passes around pulley 47, pulley 43 and pulley 43. Pulley 47 and pulley 48 are supported by a bracket 49 which is connected to the bottom of the box 10. The cable then runs to the front of the box where it ends in a handle 51 which is controlled by a coin box mechanism (not shown).

A second cable 52 is attached to cable 44 at point 53 from which it passes around a pulley 54 which is supported by a bracket 55. Bracket 55 is connected to the bottom of the box 10. The cable 52 after it passes around the pulley 54 runs to latch `arm 3S where it is rigidly secured thereto.

Referring to FIGURE 6, it is seen that a plurality of similar units may be arranged in a particular way so as to provide facilities for a number of players to practice hitting out of a sand trap, simultaneously.

The operation of the invention will now be explained to indicate how the parts enumerated above operate together to perform a useful function in a new and novel manner.

One wishing to practice the art of hitting golf balls out of a sand trap would deposit a coin in a coin slot 56. This would release the cable 44 and the player would pull on the handle 51 which is attached to the cable 44.

Cable 44 would pull on the fairway doors 18 and 19 and tilt them towards the center of the box 10. All of the golf balls on the fairway doors would roll towards the center and fall into the trough 28. The balls would then roll towards the front of the box and end up in the pail like receptable 129. Simultaneously, when the handle 51 is pulled, the cable 52 will pull on latch arm 38 which in turn, through tension spring 39, will pull on the bellcrank 34. Crank 34, being attached to the screen 31, pulls the screen with it until the screen assumes a horizontal position and is caught under the locking arm 33 which holds the screen in a horizontal position when the tension in the cable '52| is released. At the same time when the coin is deposited in the coin slot a timing mechanism is started which controls the locking arm 33 so that after a predetermined time the locking arm is pulled out of the path of the screen 31 and the screen, because of the tension spring 35, returns to a vertical position.

The player now takes the golf balls and places them, one or more at a time, on the sand 17. He then attempts to hit them out of the sand onto the fairway doors. Any of the balls that he hits which roll into any of the holes 2S will return to the receptacle 29 through the trough 28.

The player continues to play until either all of the balls have been hit onto the fairway doors or until the predetermined time which has been set into the timing mechanism has expired.

Although I have described particular embodiments of the invention, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the Scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A sand trap golfing game comprising, a boxlike structure having side panels, a front and rear panel and a bottom panel, a partition dividing said structure into a front and rear section, sand substantially filling said front section, a pair of fairway doors pivotally mounted in said rear section, a means for tilting said fairway doors so that they tilt towards the middle of said structure, a trough rigidly secured to said structure and positioned so as to lie beneath the opening created by the tilting of said fairway doors, said trough being sloped from the rear towards the front of said structure, a screen pivctally mounted above said partition and a means for horizontally positioning said screen when said fairway doors are actuated.

2. A sand trap golng game as claimed in claim l wherein said tilting means consists of a cable, a bracket rigidly secured to the underside of each of said fairway doors in line with the pivot points of said doors, a pulley rotatably mounted on one of said brackets, a third bracket mounted on the bottom panel of said structure beneath the fairway door having the mounted pulley, a second pulley rotatably mounted on said third bracket, a third pulley rotatably mounted on said third bracket alongside said second pulley and in line therewith, a fourth bracket mounted on said bottom panel beneath the other of said fairway doors and a fourth pulley rotatably mounted on said fourth bracket, said second, third and fourth pulleys being in one plane with respect to each other, said cable passing around each of said pulleys and being fastened to said bracket not having a pulley mounted thereon whereby the pulling of the free end of the said cable tilts said fairway doors upon their pivot points towards the center of said structure.

3. A sand trap golfing game as claimed in claim l wherein said screen positioning means consists of a cable, a bellcrank connected to said screen, a tension spring, a latch arm connected to said bellcrank through said tension spring, a latch stop, a second tension spring connected between said structure and said bellcrank, said second tension spring holding said latch arm against said latch stop through said bellcrank, a bracket rigidly secured to said bottom panel of said structure, a pulley rotatably secured to said bracket, said cable passing around said pulley and being fastened at one end thereof to said latch arm whereby the pulling of the free end of said cable pulls the screen down from a vertical position to a horizontal position and a locking arm positioned so as to hold said screen in a horizontal position upon the tension in said cable being released.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,574,596 Barnett Feb. 23, 1926 1,924,511 Peterson Aug. 29, 1933 2,212,333 Wade Aug. 20, 1940

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